Equality – in reponse to Neil’s prod.

Posted on by Opher

I’m always spouting about equality. I believe in it. But is it really clear what equality really means? No it isn’t.

I certainly do not want everybody being the same or having the same.

I certainly understand that people are not all equal. People have greatly different talents, skills, abilities, intelligence, physical attributes etc. They cannot all be the same.

So what do I mean when I talk about equality? I’ve had to think quite hard about how to explain my thoughts.

  1. I want people to have the same opportunities regardless of their gender, race, age, religion, geographical position, disability, wealth, class or anything else.
  2. I want the world to be fairer with rewards for efforts, abilities, risks and responsibilities being proportionate.I do not think it is fair for someone like Rees-Mogg or Johnson to make millions out of a few speeches or a Brexit vote, while others work all their lives in hard circumstances and never earn a million. I see this as part of equality. I do think that exceptional sportsmen and women, risk-takers, business people and managers deserve to be paid well for what they do. I think that needs to be in proportion to those at the bottom. I want a more equal world where those at the top cannot earn say – more than twenty times those at the bottom.
  3. I want a level playing field for education, health, courts and job prospects where the rich cannot buy privilege, where there is a meritocracy, not one based on nepotism, advantage, cronyism and privilege (like this Tory government handing out huge contracts to donors and Johnson putting his father forward for a knighthood). You should earn your position and reward through effort and ability – not patronage.

So when I talk about equality I do not want everyone the same. I merely want everyone to be equally important and have the means to prosper through their own efforts and abilities. I want to put an end to the situation where some are fast-tracked to wealth and power through privilege and not ability.

I want a more equal world.

I Am Woke

Posted on by Opher

I Am Woke

In a perfect world it would not be necessary

                To point out all the evils in one’s own culture.

All cultures have unpleasant, nasty and even

                Downright evil aspects hidden in their history.

Making oneself aware of the things that were

                Wrong in the past is the first step.

Wearing rose-tinted glasses and pretending

                That everything about one’s culture is perfect

Only serves to perpetuate the problems

                So that nothing ever gets better.

Keeping your senses and mind open to accept

                That mistakes were, and still are, being made

Enables us to find better ways of living together

                And accommodating those who are different.

I Am Woke to the knowledge that my ancestors got lots of things horribly wrong.

                I am woke to their mistakes and cultural attitudes.

I am woke to a better world.

                I Am Woke!

22.2.2023

I live in a culture that once felt so superior to other cultures that they condoned racism and slavery.

I live in a culture that used to think wild animals could be abused without remorse, that condoned bear-baiting, bull-fighting, dog and cock fighting and believed that watching animals tearing each other apart was entertainment.

I belong to a culture that thought war was glorious and that to die in battle was noble.

I belong to a culture that believes some people deserve much more than others because they, by birth, are inherently superior.

I belong to a culture where ordinary people had to fight, protest and die for the right to vote, for a fair day’s pay for a fair days work and for safe conditions in the workplace.

I am woke to all this and lots more.

What are the evils that existed in your culture? Misogyny? Persecution? Cruelty? Violence?

What aspects still need addressing?

I am woke to the need for equality, freedom, fairness and a world that lives in harmony with nature.

My patriotism is so big in encompasses the whole world and every living thing.

I am not ashamed to be woke!!

Racism, Multiculturalism and Islamophobia.

Posted on by Opher

Racism, Multiculturalism and Islamophobia.

Like most people I am a mongrel. If I was to examine my DNA I bet I would find traces of African, Asian, European and probably more. I hope so.

I am not a nationalist. I am a globalist. I see myself as a human being and part of the global brother/sisterhood of man and a responsible hominid. I am not a patriot in the usual sense of the word. I fight for universal freedom, suffrage and rights.

I love variety and the celebration of difference. I welcome people with different backgrounds. But I do have a proviso. This country is attractive because we have an over-riding culture of tolerance, liberal thinking and radicalism. We have led the world in many areas of social emancipation and I am proud of that. We have been a haven for refugees fleeing from oppression and I am proud of that. People come here because they value the freedom, democracy and values we espouse. What I object to is people who wish to impose un-British values on me.

I am not against immigration. I am against overpopulation world-wide.

I do not care if people are black, white, pink, brown, red or yellow. Their race is unimportant. What is important is their character and the values they have.

My views are neither racist nor Islamphobic.

There is no biological foundation for racism. It stems from basic xenophobic fear. I want universal brother-sisterhood and equality.

As an antitheist I believe all religions are dangerous and harmful, superstitious nonsense and the sooner we mature and leave them behind the better. But I do not advocate a repression of religions or action against them. As far as I am concerned everyone should be free to practise whatever religion they wish. But that should be a personal choice, not one imposed on anyone. I am opposed to all forms of indoctrination (particularly with children – which I regard as particularly pernicious and psychologically damaging), evangelism and imposition. I would do away with all religious schools (indoctrination factories) and RE lessons other than historical comparative context. I do not have any hierarchy of which religions I dislike most. They are all the same. They have all been responsible for intolerance, indoctrination and atrocities.
I believe that religion will wither and die of its own accord as the farcical stories are shown to be unfounded.
My diatribes on religion are founded on the infringements of basic human rights and the indoctrination processes they adopt. The practices of fanatics has been similar throughout history whether its pogroms, crusades, torture, beheadings, jihads, partitions, inquisitions or witch-hunts – it’s all about politics and power. They are all callous, brutal thugs, indoctrinated and used by cynical leaders. Jews, Christians, Hindus, Muslims and even Buddhists all have pasts full of atrocities. I abhor them all.
I welcome the variety of cultures and customs. I think they enrich. But I do not respect people who wish to impose their views on me, enforce their religion on me or others or wish to depose the prevailing British culture which is the result of enlightenment and centuries of social struggle. In my view people who live in this country should be integrated and aspire to the values of tolerance and freedom that permeate the culture. I have come to see that aspects of multiculturalism have created apartness and a loss of an over-riding shared cultural values. I don’t think that is good.

My issues with religion are about human rights. I think you can have family values without practicing misogyny or making women second class citizens. Unfortunately I see many practises in Muslim communities abroad and in Britain which restrict the rights of women (voting, driving, dress code, freedoms, genital mutilation, education etc.) which are enforced and infringe basic human rights.
When you lock women away and create a sexually repressed society the males often behave abhorrently. We saw the same hypocrisy in Victorian Britain. This is why I am in favour of sexual liberalisation and monogamy and family values. You can have both.

What the world needs is less fanaticism and intolerance and more love and harmony. The worst scenario of all is a theocracy. The tyrannous imposition of religion on people is surely the most regressive and stifling experience. We were freed by the Enlightenment. As soon as we got the shackles off our culture blossomed, science and discovery were unleashed.

I am all for building a positive zeitgeist! This blog welcomes atheists, believers, antitheists, Christians, Muslims, Hindus, non-believers, Sikhs, Jains, doubters, all other sects, denominations and faiths and those that don’t give a hoot.

It welcomes people of all colours and customs.

You are all most welcome!

I want debate, argument, fellowship and understanding. We might not agree but we can still respect each other and practise our tolerance.

Britain on a journey out of the Dark Ages of Superstition and Racism! Or are we?

Posted on by Opher

A survey of the UK found that for the first time since the Dark Ages over half the country (55%) said they were not religious! Only 34% said they were Christian. With only 7% claiming to be of another religion (Islam, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, Jedi). So much for us being swamped with Muslim immigrants.

Religion is on the decline and has been for a long time. The superstition, based on fear, is waning fast.

Which leads me to ask why, in a secular country, do we still have religious education in our schools? Why do we have a religious Thought For Today instead of a humanist one? Why do we have that ridiculous act of worship on Radio 4? Surely we should balance the books and not seek to brainwash people?

The sooner we put a stop to the religious schools trying to brainwash kids the better!! All these Christian, Muslim and Jewish religious schools are trying to batter young brains with medieval gobbledegook. It’s time that was regarded as what it is – child abuse!

Likewise, race. Britain is multicultural. Has been for a long time. We’ve benefitted so much from a richness of culture – Huegenot, Jewish, Arab, Caribbean, African, Chinese, European, Indian and Tibetan (Etc). They all bring something of worth – whether that be food, words, fashion, art, ideas, literature, music, dancing or poetry. We are all so much the richer.

I thought we’d got past the idea of colour by now. It’s not the colour that’s important but the content of the character, surely?

Seemingly not. Some of the older, or more cerebrally challenged, still hark back to Darker Days.

The UK is a secular, multiracial country! The sooner we realise that, the better!!

The Land Of The Free

Posted on by Opher

The Land Of The Free

In the land of the free

                You are brought up

                                To do as you are told.

Conform to the norm,

                Salute the flag,

                                Take the oath,

Pray to an invisible being,

                Believe in a dream!

That’s the way

                The wealthy elite

                                Like it.

Opher – 25.2.2022

The thing that struck me most about America was its conformity. Even when Americans sort out a seemingly antisocial group they merely conformed to a strict set of rules and thinking.

There is a brainwashing process involved – the saluting, the flag, the oath of allegiance, the belief in God. It’s overwhelming.

The McCarthy campaign was so incredibly effective. Socialism and Communism are dirty words. The capitalists won hands down. They enslaved everyone and dangled the idea of the American Dream. If you worked hard you too could be a billionaire. Bullshit. The reality is that a tiny percentage are creaming off a giant’s share.

The public are threatened, beset with racism, violent control and work for a pittance without benefits.

It’s a model that capitalists are trying to impose on the rest of the world by stealth.

Slavery hasn’t ended, it’s just taken a different form.

They’ll be pie in the sky when you die – now get back to work on your three jobs! You can’t afford to be sick!!

The Benefits of a Tory Brexit

Posted on by Opher
  1. You get to queue for hours to get abroad
  2. You have red tape, delays and extra costs
  3. You can’t work, travel or study abroad without major obstacles
  4. The cost of labour has gone up so the cost of living has gone up
  5. We have massive costs with extra staff and facilities at borders carrying out unnecessary checks on goods and people
  6. We have huge lorry parks for delayed goods
  7. We have the break up of the UK with Northern Ireland and Scotland in dire straits
  8. We have food rotting in fields, fishermen losing their market, hotels and caterers with staff shortages, no carers, NHS staff shortages
  9. We have a loss of trade with firms moving abroad or going bust through delays, loss of markets or additional costs, tariffs, red tape and staff shortages.
  10. We have massive price increases in the shops and shortages of many goods.
  11. We are replacing, at great cost, cheap EU workers, with more expensive workers from Africa and India.
  12. We have worse trade deals with distant countries.

We do, however, have a lot of very wealthy people, like Rees-Mogg, who made a fortune out of it!!

Welcome to Tory Brexit!! The impoverished land of lies and deception. Guess how many million Boris Johnson will have made out of Brexit and his job as PM?? Watch all the money pouring in.

Ever been duped???

What has happened to politics??

Posted on by Opher

I think we can trace it right back to 9/11. When the planes flew into the World Trade Centre the world changed.

We were going along quite nicely – standard of living was good, we were getting on top of racism. Progress was slow but we were heading in the right direction.

9/11 and the wave of extreme Muslim terrorism sparked off a reaction. Fear created paranoia. There was a rise in racism and a surge of nationalism – kick out immigrants, shut the borders.

Populists seized their opportunity, rode this wave of fear and racism, stoked up hate and division and gained power.

Politics became extreme.

In the USA it resulted in Tea Party madness and then Trump. The rabid far-right populist loonies took over the Republican Party and transformed it into a fascist party.

In the UK we had the lunacy of Brexit followed by a take-over of the Tory Party by the ERG and the election of Johnson the affable populist clown (really a cynical narcissist).

The whole world lurched to the far-right with the election of nutcases like Bolsonaro, Oban, Modi, Erdogan and Morrison.

The House of Parliament – not for those under 18-years-old! XXX Rated!!

Posted on by Opher

Not for the faint-hearted – scenes of depravity, dishonesty, immorality, criminality, racism, homophobia, misogyny, sexism, bullying and now sexual perversion with tractors!!